DOCman is well known for its ability to be used for small file distribution. But did you know that DOCman is as equally adept at serving large files without a huge resource gain?

In this edition of DOCman secrets, we give you a few tips and configuration changes that will help you use DOCman to deliver Gigabyte files with ease while maintaining the usual DOCman blend you are accustomed to.

Two roads for large files

There are two roads when we define large files.

The first of these roads would be the 0-150MB road and the second would be the 150MB to 8GB and beyond. The first road is the most simple and does not require too much sacrifice in terms of features.

Set max_filesize_upload and post_max_size to within your upload range.

Set session timeouts to ensure uploads don’t fail due to timed out sessions.

Tip: Remember that DOCman can store its files outside the webroot so you don’t need to expose your files to the outside world.

Larger files require an alternative workflow because setting our PHP settings too high and doing likewise with the admin sessions would have adverse effects. Here are some suggested settings:

Shift uploading to be done via FTP.

Use remote links to ensure we don’t pass these large files through PHP and chew through memory.

Ensure anti leech is on to hide your internal link structure.

Ensure hide remote links is set to on.

And that covers road two.

Two separate paths both dealing with large file delivery and distribution and both using one platform, DOCman – grab your copy today from the Joomlatools store!

One of the most requested features of DOCman 2.0 is the ability to upload files in multiple folders. Currently, DOCman 1.x only allows uploading files in one folder.

Joomla’s media manager can manage files across different folders but is a hermetically sealed black box which has been around since the Mambo days. It neither allows extending it, nor can it be easily re-used by other extensions.

For DOCman 2.0 we needed a file manager that is more flexible, modern and extendable. Over the past months we re-built the media manager from the ground up. We took out the aging iframe techniques and static structure and replaced it with a brand new component. Meet FILEman.

Knowing what’s happening on your site and what other people are doing is an essential part of web administration and the social web. Whether you’re alone or working with a team of web administrators, writers and editors, having the ability to record and view their activities in your site or across sites is very useful.

Activity Streams

Joomlatools is bringing Activity Streams to your Joomla sites through LOGman. If you use Facebook, you should have a general idea of what Activity Streams are. Knowing what you and others have done is very helpful. It shows you the progress of whatever project you’re working on, and it helps boost the productivity of people.

Logging Actions

LOGman is capable of logging all the actions of our Joomlatools extensions. For example, LOGman can log everything that is happening in FILEman 1.0 and the upcoming DOCman 2.0.

We also added support for some of Joomla’s core components. You can log events from content (add/edit) and users (add/edit/delete/login/logout). As an extra treat, LOGman can also log add and edit actions for DOCman 1.x. So even DOCman 1.x users can make direct use of LOGman.